Former NFL player Chris Draft transforms grief into action. On Thanksgiving Eve, he honors his late wife by raising awareness for lung cancer through white ribbons, advocacy, and a mission to empower survivors and their families (Photo Provided by Chris Draft).
On Thanksgiving Eve, while most of us are prepping turkeys and finalizing recipes, former Chicago Bears player Chris Draft will spend the day making white ribbons. For him, this day isn’t just his wedding anniversary—it’s a tradition rooted in love and purpose. The ribbons are a symbol of his fight against the disease that claimed his wife, LaKeasha: lung cancer.
Draft faced a devastating challenge shortly after retiring from a 12-year NFL career. His wife, once the picture of health, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. It began with shortness of breath. A visit to her primary care doctor led to a biopsy, and by New Year’s, the couple learned the cancer had spread to her brain.
“She was in amazing shape,” Draft recalled. “Before her diagnosis, she was challenging me to do P90X and run a 10k with her.”
Chris Draft’s wife, Lakeasha Monique Rutledge Draft (Photo Provided by Draft).
Despite the grim prognosis, LaKeasha remained focused on others. On the eve of their wedding, November 27, 2011, she made a request that would define her legacy. Instead of gifts, she asked family and friends to support Team Draft, an initiative within the Chris Draft Family Foundation to promote healthy lifestyles and raise awareness about lung cancer.
Their marriage lasted one month. Two days after Christmas, LaKeasha passed away. Yet her vision for Team Draft continues to fuel Draft’s advocacy. He is committed to reshaping perceptions of lung cancer and fighting a disease that disproportionately affects people of color.
A Mission Rooted in Action
In 2017, Draft launched the Super Bowl Challenge, uniting lung cancer survivors to raise funds for research. Survivors represented NFL teams, competing to raise the most money. The winner earned a trip to the Super Bowl, with most of the proceeds going to support lung cancer centers and programs. This effort gave survivors a platform and proved the power of teamwork.
Later, Draft met Heidi and Pierre Onda. Heidi, a lung cancer survivor, was frustrated by the lack of attention and action surrounding the disease.
After being told by a local cancer center that they “didn’t have a plan” and “didn’t want cancer, H “she took matters into her own hands. She asked her husband to craft a large wooden white ribbon and display it on their front door—a bold statement that lung cancer matters. This simple act sparked a movement, with white ribbons now hanging in more than 35 countries.
“We give people these big ribbons and say, ‘We care about you,’” Draft said. My wife chose to fight for everyone. Her choice is one that everyone has—right where they stand.”
A Call to Recognize Vulnerability
Lung cancer doesn’t discriminate. And though smoking is a major cause, anyone can get it for other reasons. “I’ve heard other people say, ‘Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer,” said Lillian Eichner, assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “They’re soft tissue inside your body, except that everything you breathe, no matter where you are, goes directly into your lungs. If you think about it, they’re actually remarkably vulnerable.
This truth hits hard in Black communities, where lung cancer often strikes at younger ages and those with less smoking history. Draft’s work with Team Draft and initiatives like the white ribbon movement aims to spread awareness and address systemic inequities that leave African Americans disproportionately affected.
A Coordinated Fight
Draft’s mission is simply this: to bring people together, align efforts, and maximize resources. “We’re still going to lose people, but we’ll lose less,” he said. His goal is to ensure that those who can benefit from screenings, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, or clinical trials have the support they need. He’s focused on meeting survivors where they are, providing resources, and standing with those who might otherwise feel hopeless.
This fight, he believes, demands intention and coordination. “We have to meet people where they are,” Draft said. “It’s going to take boots on the ground and clear national goals.”
For Draft, the National Lung Cancer Roundtable embodies this spirit of teamwork. It’s a collection of advocates, researchers, and survivors working together to put people first. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Draft said. “We need to learn from each other and take action.”
As he makes white ribbons this Thanksgiving Eve, Draft continues her fight. For him, it’s about giving people hope and employing what he calls “a coordinated approach that recognizes that people are being diagnosed every day, and there are things we can do to help them. Number one is that we can make sure that all of them are met with love. We can make sure that they all have the information they need and meet them as individuals, making sure they have the resources they need to be able to put up a fight against lung cancer.”
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
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